Thursday, March 31, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Ukraine Defense At 'Turning Point'


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address last night that the country's defense against Russia is at a "turning point" as he again pushed for more help from the U.S. Even as he thanked the U.S. for another $500 million in aid announced yesterday, Zelenskyy said, "If we really are fighting for freedom and in defense of democracy together, then we have a right to demand help in this difficult turning point. Tanks, aircraft, artillery systems. Freedom should be armed no worse than tyranny."


Hours earlier, what had been Zelenskyy's, as well as the U.S. and others', skepticism about Russia's pledge Tuesday to scale back operations near the capital of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv was validated, as it shelled areas around those cities and intensified attacks in other parts of the country, including in the eastern Donbas region, where Ukraine said Russia had redeployed troops from other areas. The intensified attacks happened after Ukraine and Russia held talks earlier this week, which are set to resume Friday.

U.S. Says Putin Being Misinformed: U.S. intelligence has determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about Russian troops' performance in Ukraine, AP reported, citing a U.S. official, and that Putin has felt misled by the Russian military. Intelligence has also determined he isn't fully aware of the extent to which the Russian economy is being damaged by economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies. The official said this indicates Putin's senior advisers are, quote, "afraid to tell him the truth."

 
Ukraine Refugees Pass Four Million: The U.N. refugee agency said yesterday that more than four million people have now fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion. That number of refugees, half of whom are children, according to the agency, exceeds worst-case predictions made at the start of the war.

➤BIDEN PLANNING TO TOP STRATEGIC OIL RESERVE: President Biden is planning to order the release of up to one million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve, in an effort to try to control energy prices that have shot up as the U.S. and other allied nations have imposed tough sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg first reported yesterday. The daily release could last for several months. The announcement could be made as early as today, with Biden planning to speak about plans to fight rising gas prices.

➤REPORT...ADMIN. TO END COVID ASYLUM LIMITS AT BORDER BY LATE MAY: The administration is expected to end asylum limits put in place at the U.S-Mexico border to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 by May 23rd, the Associated Press reported yesterday, saying the decision is not yet final. White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said that whenever the limits are removed, there will be an influx of people to the border, and said, "We are doing a lot of work to plan for that contingency." The limits were put in place in March 2020 under the Trump administration as the pandemic struck the U.S., and President Biden has so far kept them.

➤BIDEN GETS SECOND BOOSTER, ANNOUNCES NEW 'COVID.GOV' SITE: President Biden got his second booster of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, one day after the FDA and CDC okayed a fourth vaccine dose for those over age 50 and people younger than that with severely weakened immune systems. Biden also announced the launch of the new site COVID.gov, which allows users to see local levels of community transmission and get information on how to order tests, masks, vaccine doses and treatments. A White House official described it as a "one-stop shop website."

➤JUDGE IMPOSES DAILY FINES FOR ALEX JONES AS LONG AS HE MISSES DEPOSITION: A Connecticut judge on Wednesday imposed daily fines on Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for each weekday until he appears for a deposition in a lawsuit brought by relatives of some victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting. Jones defied court orders last week to attend the deposition, citing a health problem that turned out to be a sinus infection, and was found in contempt. The judge noted that while claiming to be too sick for the deposition, Jones appeared on his website show every day. The fines will begin at $25,000 per weekday beginning Friday and increase by $25,000 per weekday until he appears for the deposition. Jones' testimony is being sought ahead of a trial to determine how much he should pay in damages to the families for promoting a conspiracy theory that the Sandy Hook massacre never happened. Jones was found liable for damages to the families.

➤REPUBLICAN COLLINS WILL VOTE FOR SUPREME COURT NOMINEE JACKSON: Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will get at least one Republican vote in the Senate, with Senator Susan Collins of Maine saying yesterday that she will vote to confirm Jackson. Collins had met with Jackson a second time this week after her confirmation hearings last week. The news all but assures that Jackson will have enough votes in the 50-50 split Senate to be confirmed and become the first Black woman on the nation's highest court.

➤PENNSYLVANIA INTERSTATE SNOW SQUALL PILEUP KILLED SIX: Pennsylvania state police said Wednesday that the multi-vehicle pileup on Interstate 81 amid a snow squall Monday killed six people, double the three people that had originally been reported. They also said it involved 39 commercial vehicles and 41 passenger vehicles for a total of 80 in all. Earlier estimates had said 40 to 60 vehicles were involved.

➤GOP LAWMAKER ADMITS EXAGGERATING CLAIMS OF ORGIES, COCAINE USE: House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said yesterday that he'd met with Rep. Madison Cawthorn, and that the 26-year-old North Carolina Republican told him he'd exaggerated his claims in an interview about being invited to "orgies" in Washington, D.C., and seeing leaders do cocaine right in front of him. McCarthy stated, "In the interview, he claims he watched people do cocaine. Then when he comes in he tells me, he says he thinks he saw maybe a staffer in a parking garage from 100 yards away." McCarthy said he told the freshman congressman that he'd, quote, "lost his trust," stating, "He's going to have to earn it back." McCarthy told reporters that what Cawthorn said was "unacceptable," stating, "You can't just make statements out there," and noting, "he's got a lot of [GOP House] members very upset."


➤CHRIS ROCK ADDRESSES THE SLAP HOURS AFTER THE ACADEMY ANNOUNCES DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS FOR WILL SMITH:  Chris Rock briefly addressed the Will Smith slap during his Boston comedy show, just hours after the Academy revealed that disciplinary proceedings have begun for the Best Actor winner.

According to TMZ, when Rock took the stage at the Wilbur theater Wednesday night, he was greeted by a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd. However, the comedian was prepared to disappoint anyone who showed up to hear about the Oscar incident.
 

He said, "I don't have a bunch of s*** about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I'm still kind of processing what happened," adding, "So, at some point, I'll talk about that s***. And it will be serious and funny."

Deadline reports that a member of the Academy’s top leadership did ask the King Richard star’s rep to have him leave the awards show.

The Academy said of the incident, “While we would like to clarify that Mr. Smith was asked to leave the ceremony and refused, we also recognize we could have handled the situation differently.”

The outlet also reports that disciplinary proceedings have begun for the former Fresh Prince. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Scientists' Board of Governors ruled Wednesday (March 30th), “At the next board meeting on April 18, the Academy may take any disciplinary action, which may include suspension, expulsion, or other sanctions permitted by the Bylaws and Standards of Conduct.”


➤ERIC CHURCH FANS UPSET OVER CANCELED CONCERT: Some fans of country music star Eric Church are upset after he canceled a sold-out show scheduled for Saturday in San Antonio so that he can go to the NCAA men's basketball tournament's Final Four game between archrivals Duke and North Carolina. In an email sent to ticketholders, Church, who's a huge North Carolina fan, said having those two schools, quote, "matchup in the Final Four for the first time in history of the NCAA Tournament is any sports enthusiast's dream." He continued, "This is most selfish thing I’ve ever asked [fans] to do, to give up your Saturday night plans with us so that I can have this moment with my family and sports community. However, it’s that same type of passion felt by the people who fill the seats at our concerts that makes us want to be part of a crowd at a game of this significance." Some fans blasted Church online, including by pointing out there were people who'd bought plane tickets and hotel rooms so they could attend the concert. But a rep for Church told Variety most of the feedback in his closed Facebook fan page was positive. 

➤BRUCE WILLIS RETIRES FROM ACTING AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED WITH APHASIA:  Bruce Willis has retired from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, a medical condition that can affect a person’s ability to speak, write and understand language.

The 67-year-old star’s family members, including both his wife, Emma Herming and his ex-wife, Demi Moore, posted the announcement to Instagram Wednesday.

Bruce Willis
The family wrote, “To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.

“This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support. We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him.”

The post, which was also signed by Willis’ daughters Rumer, Scout, Tallulah, Mabel and Evelyn, concluded with, “As Bruce always says, 'Live it up' and together we plan to do just that.”

According to a report published by the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, rumors had been swirling about the action star’s decline in recent years. The outlet reports that while working on recent projects - 22 in the last four years - Willis’ lines were fed to him through an earpiece and his action scenes, especially those where his character was required to handle a gun, were filmed using a body double.

➤STUDY...PEOPLE WHO GREW UP IN THE COUNTRY HAVE A BETTER SENSE OF DIRECTION THAN THOSE WHO GREW UP IN CITIES:  If you grew up in a rural area you have at least one advantage over someone who grew up in a city. Researchers from several universities tested the spatial navigation skills of nearly 400,000 people from 38 countries using a video game called Sea Hero Quest. They found people who grew up in more structured, grid-like cities performed better on game levels with grid-like layouts. But those who grew up outside of cities, or in cities with more sprawling, complex layouts, were better at navigating disorderly routes. The scientists say this could be because the countryside has more disorderly road layouts, which prime the brain for remembering and navigating environments. Study author, Professor Hugo Spears adds, “[…] we found that people who grew up in areas with gridded streets can have comparable navigation skills to people five years their senior from rural areas, and in some areas the difference was even greater.” Future research could focus on finding out whether living in a rural area could help guard against dementia conditions such as Alzheimer’s.

🏈ARIANS RETIRES AS BUCCANEERS COACH: Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians announced yesterday that he's retiring, an unexpected move that comes shortly after quarterback Tom Brady reversed himself and said he was coming back 40 days after retiring in February. Defense coordinator Todd Bowles is taking over from Arians as the new head coach. The 69-year-old Arians will move into a front-office position with the Bucs, working with general manager Jason Licht. Arians led Tampa Bay for three seasons, which included a Super Bowl championship after the 2020 season, Brady's first with the team.

🏀COACH HOLLOWAY LEAVING SAINT PETER'S FOR SETON HALL: Coach Shaheen Holloway is leaving Saint Peter's to join Seton Hall, the news coming days after the small New Jersey school was eliminated from the men's NCAA basketball tournament after making history as the first Number 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight. Seton Hall announced the news yesterday evening. The 45-year-old Holloway, who played for Seton Hall, is succeeding Kevin Willard, who's leaving for the head coaching job at Maryland.



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